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c i Ln n nr M. CON NER, or ce non s, N uw` Youn.

l Lettere Patent No. 72,169, dated December 17, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATER-WHEELS.

'IO ALL WIIOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, GILBERT M, CUNNER, of Cohoes, in the county of' Albany, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefull Improvements in the Construction and Mode of Operating Turbine Water- Wheels; and I do hereby declare the that following is afull and exact description thereof', reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures and letters niarked lthereon, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view ofthe improved water-wheel, with its casings and apparatus.

Figure 2, a perspective view of the wheel, as seen detached from the case.

Figure 3, a top view of the wheel-case, andthe radial chutes in its lower part.

Figure 4, a vertical section of the hub or body of the wheel and its epclosing case.

Figure 5, the step ofthe water-wheel shaft and its adjusting lever.

The same parts are designated by the same letters in all the figures.

The nature of my invention consists in giving to the water, upon entering tlie a paratus, an upward and rotary movement, and then, by means of radial chutes, a direct action against the buckets of the wheel upon all sides; also, in giving such form to the buckets and to the hub or body of the wheel and the enclosing case, ir` which the wheel works, as will cause a continued deflection of the water as it p usses along the buckets; and'in so controlling the dischargeof the water from the machine as to vary thc'power of the wheel, as may be required.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improved turbine water-wheel, I shall now particularly describe its construction and mode of operation.

I make a circular chamber, A, figs. 1 and 4of sheet iron, or other suitable material, with a bottom floor o cast iron or timber. Into this chamber the water from the forebay is introduced by means of the trunk B, gs. I and 3, and is let on or shut ofl` by the balanced gate or throttle C, which is mounted on the spindlef passing through its centre, which spindle may be carried up to any suitable place for thecouvcnience ofthe attendant. In this lower chamber is placed a helix, D, which may be made of sheet iron or other suitable material, and may bo a full circle or only a portion of a circle, but in either c ase it should rise to the full height, or nearly so, of the chamber A, and be so formed as to turn the water upward; the object being toigive the water an upward motion in addition to the rotary motion it receives from passing around theiiuner surface ofthe circular chamber A. Upon this chamber A, I place the wheel-case E, figs. 1 and 4, which I prefer to make of cast iron. In the lower part, a a, ot' this case I make anumber of radial chutes@ b b bi, figs. Sandi-1. The water from the lower chamber, having to pass through these chutes, is directed by them squarely against the lowerportiou of the wheel-buckets e c c c, iig. 2. The hub or body F of this wheel, which is shown in perspective at iig. 2, and in vertical section in fig. 4, is of a peculiar form; about two-thirds of its lower part is the inverted frustum of a cone, the inclination of its side to the axis being about twenty-one degrees. It then curves upwards and outwards to a flare of about seventy-two degrees with the axis, as shown in fig. 4, and thus forming a top plate o=r disk, G, of a diameter equal to that ofthe wheel-ease E, as shown in figs. 1, 2, and 4. The profile of this wheelbody or hub, instead of being made of straight and curved lines, as described, may beef a. parabolic or curvilinear forrn, if preferred, and of such inclination to the axis as may be considered best. Upon this conical or flaring hub I place a number of buckets or floats, c c c e, fig. 2, which may be more or less numerous, according to the head of water; that is, the greater the velocity of the water passing throughV the machine, the morenumerous may be the buckets upon the wheel. These buckets arcof` peculiar form, and have about th same angle of rake upon the hub which the surface of such hub has with its axis. Thus for some two-thirds of the height the angle of thcvbuckets to the horizontal would be about sixty-nine degrees.v They then curve over more rapidly till they terminate under the iiare or disk G, atan angle of about eighteen degrees with the horizontal. The buckets are attached to the body of the wheel or hub by means of ilanges d tl d d, iig. 2, and are so twisted as to make them stand perpendicularly to the hub at all points of attachment, thus causing the upper portion of the bucket to droopor incline downwards, as shown atfff, iig. 2, where, also, the corners are rounded of?, so that no part of the buckets shall project beyond the periphery of the disk or top plateGr. The outer edges oi the buckets are then trued up in a lathe till 4they t the inn-er conical surface gg of thc wheel-case E,

which should also be trued out in a lathe, it being important to the economical operation of the machine that the buckets-'should run as close as possible to the wheel-case without touching it, and to prevent the possibility of' actual contact, while at the Sametime permitting the buckets to run close to the wheel-ease, I use the adjustingstop H, fig. 5, which is turned to lit the bored-out central socket L 7L, attached to or cast upon the bottom plate ofthe lower chamber A, which stop has a not-ch in its lower end to lit the" lover 7c, the fulcrnm 1:-1. of which .lever 'is secured to the bottom plate also, while the long arm is held up by the rod n, which passes out to the top of the lower case ats, lig. 1, where it is secured by a nut passed down a screw formed upon the rod n, and by this nut and screw the lever 7c raises and lowers the step Il, as required. 'lhis stop has a conicalpoint at top, which enters n. corresponding recess or cavity lformed in the lower end ofthe wheel-shaft L, as shown in fig. 4. 'l`he stop I-I may he of metal or hard wood, such as lignuLn-Vit, which latter material is generally preferred for this purpose. i To give this wheel a variable power, so as toeconomize the water when less than its full power is required, or to run at fullV speed with a diminished supply, I Vuse a controlling-rim', M M, figs. 1, 3, and 4, which encloses the wheel-case E E,and slides up and down uponit by means of the racks t t, which are attached to Y thc rim ofthe controller, and the pinions v v and shaft fw, mounted on supports attached to the lower case A, as shown in iig. l, and may be operated by means of an endless screw gearing into the periphery of the wheel x on the shaft w, in which case the spindle of the screw might pass up to a convenient place within reach of the attendant. When the wheel is running at full power, the topA edge of the controlling-rim is at or below the level of the top edge of the wheel-case, but when it isnccessary-to economize the water or te reduce the powcr'ot` the` wheel, without reducing its speed, thecontrolling-rim is elevated, and thereby contracts the cylindrical space between the top edge ofthe controlling-rim M and the under edge of the wheel-disk or top plate G, thus reducing the outflow from the wheel, while the speed of the wheel is retained at its maximum, for the head of' water being preserved in the forebay, the full mechanical e`eet due tothe quantity expended can be obtained from the wheel under all variations from the full supply, which is a matter of great importance where the supply of water is variable, as thc turbine-wheel will not work to advantage when the wateris below the full head. As a means of obtaining additional force from thewater while issuing from the wheel, I sometimes place a number of deflecting floats around the upper edge of the controlling-rim M, placing them obliquely to the outward direction of theefhucnt water, and facing the way the wheel runs, as shown at N, figs. 3 and 4. The water passing o` from the wheel in an outward direction, strikes against the oblique plates or floats, above described, with' the force due to its velocity, which force, reacting upon the` wheel, increases its power, as I have experimentally ascertained; for having applied these deflecting-plates Vto a. water-wheel, while it was making two hundred revolutions per minute, the speed was immediately increased to two hundred and 4fifty revolutions per minute. In this case the dellecting-plates were so constructed as to be applied or removed at pleasure, and upon their removal the speed fell from two hundred and lifty to two hundred revolutions per minute. 'llh'e application of the dcilecting-plates in this case gare an in creaseol` twenty per cent. in useful effect. But the value of this efliect depends upon the velocityr of the eilluentwater, and this I lind is directly as the load upon the wheel, from which it follows that the greater the load upon the wheel the greater the benefit obtained from the use ofthe detlectingplates. To obtain the full elTect due to the head of water under which this wheel is'to be operated, the whole machine should be submerged to the level of the top plate or disl: cf the wheel.

Having thus describedthe nature, construction, and mode of operation of my improved turbine water-wheel, what I claim therein as my own invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the circular' receiving-chamber and the helical floor, or its equivalent, with'the radial guide-chutes, substantially as described. il'

2. The combination ofthe central hub and its inclined and twisted buckets, with the conical wheel-case, ill constructed and operating substantially as described. f

'3. The combination of the delecting-lloats, with the controlling-rim, for the purpose specilied, arranged and operating substantially as described.

GILBERT M. CONNER.

Witnesscs:

S. W. LovEJoY, f II. R. GRANT. 

